STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team concluded its weekend at the Tarleton State Invitational on a high note on Saturday afternoon, squaring off against the host Texans and sweeping its way to a 25-22, 25-18, 25-21 straight sets victory.
 
The win was the second for the Islanders (2-5) at the tournament in Stephenville, with their 2-1 record matching the Texans (3-6) for the best in the four-team field that also included Sam Houston and Denver. It was also their first in straight sets of the 2026 season, coming after they earned nine across their 30 matches throughout 2025.
 
Coming off a loss to the Bearkats on Friday, the Islanders did not get off to their best start, falling behind 9-4 after conceding a 7-1 run early on in the opening set. They began to make their climb out of this hole slowly but surely, rolling together some positive momentum and getting things to 15-11 at the first media timeout. From here, the visitors really made their move, ripping off a 6-0 run with two kills from both Ally Saleh and Erin Herrmann and then taking two more points after this was broken to not only erase the deficit but also turn it into a three-point lead. After Tarleton brought the score back within one, they then struck to put things away, using a kill by Saleh, an ace from Madison Morrow and kills from Tatum Mason and Ava Hight to secure the first set victory by a tally of 25-22.
 
This late rally ended up sparking A&M-Corpus Christi's attack, as it followed up this win with another in the second set after posting a sterling hitting percentage of .469, its second-best in any period so far this year. This surge began after a back-and-forth start to things, with the team first starting to create some distance on a 6-1 run that put it up 12-7. Three kills from Kaitlyn Aleshire brought the Islanders to the media timeout with a four-point advantage, and after a Texans run that cut the lead down to two, they shut things down a flurry, ripping off five points in a row after kills from Aleshire and Hight and two from Kenna Buchanan that put them firmly in the driver's seat.
 
Now looking to put the match away, the Islanders started off the third trading points with Tarleton before making a bit of separation, getting a kill from Saleh and taking advantage of three errors on the other side to put together the first run of the third set for either team. Things remained very competitive from here, but A&M-Corpus Christi once again started to pull away as the period moved to the later stages, scoring eight of 12 points with a balanced attack and putting itself on match point at 24-19. The Texans kept themselves alive with a pair of points to pull within three, but this would be the closest they would get, as Herrmann cut off the run before it could begin with a big kill that locked up the sweep for the blue and green.
 
The Islanders emerged victorious thanks to a very precise attack all night, hitting .343 overall to easily surpass their previous high mark of .246 for their best in a match so far in 2026. Saleh once again led this group with 12 kills, and she was followed by a trio of players in Herrmann, Aleshire and Mason that posted eight apiece. Setting up this offense was Hight with a match-high 35 assists, which she posted while also recording five kills on nine total attacks for a hitting percentage of .556.
 
At the conclusion of the weekend, both Hight and Aleshire were named to the Tarleton State Invitational All-Tournament Team, joining Tarleton's LeNeah Lara and Leddy Ray Guinn, Sam Houston's Chloe Monson and Chelsea Butler and Denver's Madison Winkler and Hailey Goebel. For Hight, it was her second straight All-Tournament honor after she also earned the same recognition at last weekend's Southwest Showdown, presented by Texas Army National Guard, and for Aleshire, it was her first since joining the blue and green prior to this season.
 
The Islanders will now briefly return home before then heading back out on the road for their final multi-team event of the regular season next weekend, traveling to Las Vegas to square off against Hawaii, UCLA and Iowa State at the Lucky Aces Invitational.
 
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